Four Farmers from AP Bag ISHA Foundation Awards

Vijayawada: Four farmers from Andhra Pradesh, practising paddy cultivation through natural farming under the aegis of AP Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF), have been honoured with ISHA Foundation awards.

The ISHA Foundation awarded the four farmers, Y. Bapatla Rao, Ranjith Kumar, G. Ramu, and B. Durga Rao from the Guntur, Krishna, West Godavari, and Srikakulam districts respectively, for cultivating various paddy varieties through natural farming over the last eight years.

The ISHA Foundation presented the awards at the “Indigenous Traditional Paddy and Food Mahotsav” event, organised at the Golden Temple at Sripuram in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, on 28 July. The ISHA Foundation awarded as many as 11 farmers from southern states, including the four farmers from Andhra Pradesh.

Under the ‘Save Soil’ campaign, the ISHA Foundation has been presenting awards to encourage farmers to shift towards natural farming. Agriculture experts and farmers from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, who were present at the event, discussed at length the production of indigenous traditional paddy varieties and value addition to enable farmers to earn higher profits. APCNF thematic lead B. Prabhakar was also present at the event.